Ayr Flow

 At the beginning of June we took New Vannie out for the first 'real' trip of the year when we ventured down to Ayrshire for a few days. We stayed at Craigie Gardens Caravan Park in Ayr and the plan was for me to carry out my Breeding Bird Survey at Loch Doon whilst we were there.

However after a traumatic drive down the busy A77, where there were some accidents (not us thankfully) and big tail-backs, we decided to just chill-out for a few days and go with the flow:

At Ayr Craigie Gardens (finally)

Moira Chillin'

After a bit of a rest and a bite to eat we went for a little donder along the path beside the River Ayr:

Riverside Pathway

Tree-lined Pathway

Wooded Riverside Path

At the wooded area alongside the river we started to notice a lot of little Fairy Doors, which the local children had decorated and placed on the trunks of the trees. There was quite a variety, some a bit more artistic than others, but all of them interesting; here are just a few:

Ghostly Door?

Cut-out House

Medieval Door and Rope Ladder

Rainbow Door with Leaf Path

Pink Fairy Door with Patio

Sparkly Fairy Door

My favourite was the one with the rope ladder access, Moira's favourite was the one with the patio (I felt the patio was in need of repair). Anyway we enjoyed this little woodland distraction:

Riverside Woodland Selfie

A little further along the path we came across a shingle riverbank, which gave good views down the River Ayr:

Shingle Riverbank

Moira on the shingle bank

Looking down the River Ayr

We had a very interesting walk and the weather was very pleasant so we moseyed on back through the sun-dappled woods to the caravan park:

Sun-dappled Pathway

We had a relaxing evening back at the caravan park, glad that we did not have to get up at 5:30am the next morning to go and do a bird survey.

The next day we got up (not too early) had some breakfast, did the chores, then headed down the river towards the town centre. There are several bridges across the river at Ayr, some historic and some just practical:

Rail Bridge (circa 1850)

Pedestrian Bridge (circa 1904)

The Auld Brig (circa 16th Century)

There is some conjecture about when the Auld Brig was built as there had been some sort of bridge across the river at this point well before the current bridge was built around 1585. It has had major restoration over the centuries and no longer takes vehicular traffic, making it a very historic footbridge.

Moira at Auld Brig in Ayr

A little further down the river, opposite the harbour, I noticed a familiar (but not very common) bird on the water:

It was a Black Guillemot, in fact there were several of them messing about on the water and darting in to gaps in the harbour wall (perfect nest sites). I have seen Black Guillemot before in Oban and Port Patrick, they are very much a bird of the Irish Sea. They are quite striking birds; sleek black with white wing patches and bright red legs, not to mention a bright red gape when they open their beak.

We headed further downstream to where the river opens up in to the sea. Here we could view the expanse of Ayr's famous beach:

Looking Towards Ayr South Pier

Ayr Beach (with Arran in distance)

Looking South towards Heads of Ayr

Although it was a pleasant day it still wasn't beach weather, so we kept our clothes on and had a walk along part of the esplanade, before turning inland and heading back to towards the town centre.

We were getting a bit peckish so we made our way back towards the river to go to a restaurant/bar we had passed earlier. It's called The Waterfront and has the advantage of outdoor seating right by the river, that sounded good to us (it also has a reputation for good food). So as Jim Kerr (simple Minds) once suggested "we moved on up to The Waterfront"

Moira at The Waterfront

Eddie at The Waterfront

Riverside Views at The Waterfront

The food was good and there was an added bonus.............................

The Black Guillemots were here too...............

Fantastic! Not many places can boast of Black Guillemot as a side dish!

After lunch we made our way back along the river towards the caravan park, stopping to enjoy the spectacle of dozens of Mute Swans on the river:

Swan Upmanship

They looked like juveniles, probably last year's young who have left their parents and congregated in this part of the river. There were a few adult swans further upstream, they would be raising the next generation of Mute Swans.

Just before we reached the caravan park a lady walking her dog kindly pointed out to us that a 'black and white bird' and it's chick were calling from the flat roof of a nearby building. I immediately thought Oystercatcher and I was right, as you can see from this video I took:

Flat roofs often resemble the gravely/sandy ground that Oystercatcher would nest in and their height provides protection from ground predators, so why not nest there. Chick is pretty cute though!

Didn't do much else really for the rest of the day, but did go out for a walk in the evening on my own. I took my bat detector but was at least an hour too early to get anything, only thing I got was some nice photos of the River Ayr from Craigholm Bridge:

River Ayr from Craigholm Bridge

Evening Reflections, River Ayr

And so to bed.

The next day we had a very lazy morning before finally deciding to go for a walk along the other side of the river. We walked down through the campus grounds of the University of West of Scotland and passed a substantial building, which must have been a manor house or public school at some time:

The Big Hoose

Not sure what it was but it appeared to be empty now, some of the windows had even been smashed. According to Google it is the West of Scotland Management Centre? Shame to see such an impressive building not being used.

We crossed over Craigholm Bridge and headed up the river on the opposite side. It was a bit disappointing to say the least; you had to walk on the pavement beside the road most of the time and when you had a proper path it was well away from the river. We eventually turned round when we reached what I could only describe as a building site (maybe it was pathway improvements).

When we crossed back over Craigholm Bridge I snapped a couple of photos of the river, but they were not as good as those I took the previous evening:

 

River Ayr (downstream)

River Ayr (upstream)

That about concludes our little trip down to Ayrshire, I did go back down the following week to conduct my bird survey at Loch Doon, but that is another story.........

Take Care

Teddyedward

P.S. I did find out that the Big Hoose is called Craigie House and was built in 1730 as a replacement residence for Sir Thomas Wallace of Newton Castle (what happened to Newton Castle I have no idea, maybe he lost it down a drain?). The council bought the house in 1940 and thereafter it became the Management Centre for Paisley University. Now you know!